


The Matter of Names

by WordsInTimeAndSpace



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Engagement, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28556022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsInTimeAndSpace/pseuds/WordsInTimeAndSpace
Summary: Jon has finally asked, and Martin has answered (with a yes, of course). That only leaves the matter of names.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 18
Kudos: 119





	The Matter of Names

**Author's Note:**

> Um yes, hello. This is me stumbling into a new fandom with no idea what I'm doing. I'm currently procrastinating the end of season 3 and needed a heap of fluff to compensate. Please forgive me if anything here doesn't quite fit to what we see in season 4 and 5... I'll get there eventually. :D

“Martin Sims,” Martin says slowly, carefully, as if tasting the name on his tongue. The words rumble through his broad chest, rousing Jon from where he is curled up against him, cheek pressed against Martin’s soft jumper right over his heart.

“Mh?” he manages to get out, blinking up at his boyfriend’s - no, _fiancé’s_ \- face. Martin smiles down at him, a soft blush on his freckled cheeks.

“Just trying it out,” he grins before repeating the words. “ _Martin Sims_.”

Jon bites back the _iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou_ that courses through his head - not because he doesn’t want to say it, but because he doesn’t want to distract from the conversation. Besides, he said it plenty earlier. When he’d finally asked, and Martin had replied with a very enthusiastic and slightly teary-eyed yes. “Do you like it?” he asks, voice a little hoarse.

Martin pauses for a second. “Yes. I mean… It’s your name, Jon. I’d get to keep something that belongs to you. Of course I like it.”

Jon snorts, pressing his face back into Martin’s jumper. “You already get to keep all of me. What more do you want?”

“Nothing at all, really. Just you,” Martin says, a smile in his voice as he tightens his arms around Jon and presses a kiss to the top of his head. “I still can’t believe you actually asked before I did.”

Jon shifts in his lap, sitting up a little straighter until he can press his nose into Martin’s neck and breathe in his familiar, comforting scent. “Been thinking about it for weeks,” he mumbles against Martin’s skin. “Georgie would have strangled me if I hadn’t asked soon. Or asked you herself.”

“I’ll have to thank her, then. Maybe send her a present. A bottle of wine?”

“Don’t,” Jon complains, but without any malice. “It’ll only go to her head. She’ll be convinced that she has earned the right to meddle with our relationship forever.”

“Her meddling has worked out pretty well for us, hasn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” Jon admits with a grumble. Martin laughs, and gently tilts up Jon’s chin until he can kiss the frown off Jon’s lips. It’s soft and slow and gentle, and Jon melts into Martin’s embrace and kisses him until his head is fuzzy.

“What do you think then?” Martin asks when he eventually pulls back, biting his lip.

“Of what?”

“Of the names. Martin Sims?” Martin pauses, his cheeks turning pink. “Or Jonathan Blackwood?”

Jon silently repeats the words. Martin Sims is nice. No, more than nice - it’s wonderful and warm and so much more than Jon could ever have imagined. But Jonathan Blackwood is something else altogether. It makes him nearly dizzy with affection, makes his breath catch in his throat. And it’s also... something new. Something without bad memories attached, clinging to it like the web of a spider.

Martin seems to interpret his long silence for hesitation. He bites his lip, a little unsure. “Maybe Jonathan Blackwood is a bit long? You’d run out of space on forms all the time.”

Jon can’t help but laugh. “That is a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

Instantly, Martin’s eyes light up. “Oh, really? You like it?”

“I do.”

Martin seems to know there’s something more, something brewing inside Jon’s head. Slowly he runs a finger up and down Jon’s spine, giving him time to gather his thoughts.

“It’s just… my name,” Jon finally starts. “I’m not sure if I still like it.”

“What? It’s a nice name.”

“It is. Or… I guess it was. It’s just… _Jonathan Sims_.” A brittle laugh escapes Jon’s lips. “All I can think about when I hear it is _‘Jonathan Sims, head Archivist of the Magnus Institute’_.”

Gently, Martin cups Jon’s face in his hands and brushes his thumbs over his cheeks. Over scars that still stand out against Jon’s dark skin. “You're not the Archivist anymore,” he whispers, brow knitted together in concern. “It’s over.”

“I know,” Jon sighs, leaning into the touch. “But I said it so many times while recording tapes that I doubt I’ll ever get it out of my head.”

Martin seems to think about it for a moment, and then he nods. “Okay. Jonathan Blackwood it is,” he says, with a resolution in his voice that makes Jon fall in love with him all over again.

“Really? End of discussion, just like that?”

“Of course.”

“I thought you liked the idea of keeping something that belongs to me.”

“I do. But I also like the idea of you carrying something that is mine. Maybe I like that even more than the other way around.”

Jon laughs, running his hands over Martin’s shoulders and up his neck until he can brush his fingers through the curls at the back of his head. “Still a bit possessive, are we?”

Martin smiles, a bit bashful, but there is a glint in his eyes that makes it clear that the days where he was insecure about his feelings are long gone. “When it comes to you? Always. Are you complaining?”

“Not at all, Mr. Blackwood,” Jon whispers, leaning in for another kiss as Martin pulls him closer.

“Good,” Martin grins just before their lips meet. “Mr. Blackwood.”


End file.
